GWR/LMS OO Gauge DCC RR&Co

Happy Christmas John.

[user=1338]Ed[/user] wrote:

Merry Christmas to you and yours John.

Granby posts are always a pleasure to read and here's to the next 10 years   :cheers



Ed

Wot 'e sed, wiv knobs on!!

D

       HAPPY NEW YEAR from VANCOUVER




Thanks for the greetings guys! I do hope that everyone had a great Christmas and that your stocking was over flowing with goodies……….due to an unfortunate duplication of wish lists mine was overflowing with paint brushes :shock:……you can expect to see a lot more little people inhabiting Granby in 2020  :lol:

 I see that over the the holidays the thread passed the 300,000 view mark…….cause for a modest celebration  :cheers


With my Christmas Greeting featuring the much improved Hattons14xx, it seemed a good idea to continue the theme for New Year with another "silk purse from a sows ear" story.
 
This time its the turn of the Oxford Dean Goods…….

The Dean Goods was an eagerly awaited new release, which like the 14xx received a rather mixed reception. Despite some well reported design defects, to a non purist, like me, the overall appearance is quite acceptable.There are in fact many rather nice details, the backhead.for example, is superb.

 Running perfomance, on the other hand was generally poor. Stuttering rather than smooth with limited haulage capacity. The motor failed completely on one of my Deans. Regular readers may recall the saga of the loco shuttling back and forth across the Atlantic. Fortunately the problem was eventually resolved and the loco was able to regularly run basic schedules.  

Over the holidays I decided to address the haulage issue and at the same time change the decoder and add stay alive




I managed to increase the weight by about 40%……..and mostly in the right places! Plumbers lead was cut to size and fitted in the Smoke Box, in front of the Motor, under the fly wheel and on the sides of the fire box. Off cuts were cut really small and jammed into the dome which was then sealed off with more lead cut and curved to shape.

The Dean will now cope with 8-10 wagons on modest gradients…..while not that impressive…..sufficient for my purposes



The Lenz standard decoder I originally installed had been quite acceptable for basic schedules but to ensure 100% reliability I replaced it with another Zimo MX317 plus Lifelink plus 6700 u/f Supercap.

Performance is now awesome…….. the loco crawls at a scale 2mph over some very ropey track (examples above) without any hesitation




A brief glimpse of the backhead plus some of the added detail:

Modelu crew and lamps, Engraved plates, Fire Irons and real coal (B.C. not S. Wales though)

Heavily weathered to depict many years of hard graft





In other news my replacement laptop arrived and the file transfer, to my surprise and relief, was accomplished without fret. Next week I hope to conclude the account of the Scalescene Post Office Kitbash

I do hope 2020 brings you and yours Health and Happiness

John

[user=434]John Dew[/user] wrote:

[user=1120]peterm[/user] wrote:

Looking brilliant as usual. Where I live, it's so hot and humid that card buildings don't last even when lacquered. Dust is another problem. It's sand really because we live on a sand island and of course things need cleaning quite often, so using a brush on card buildings is a bit dangerous. I've made only one building so far and that's a Ratio station building. I'm reasonably pleased with it as it's my first attempt since I was about 15… must be nearly ten years now, ahem. I might even pluck up courage to put a photo up.

Thanks Pete

Does the humidity affect the integrity of the card? The strength of John Wiffen’s designs comes from all the laminating…..virtually everything is two ply ie two sheets of card laminated together…..corner columns and such are often 4 ply.

If its any help I spray each sheet with artists fixative the moment it comes off the printer.

The Ratio station is a lovely model….mine is still in use on the branch after 25 years….it would be great to see a pic of yours

Best wishes

 John

well you asked for it, so here goes with an upload attempt. Rear of Ratio station building. Next is not so bright. Take no notice of the goods shed, it's there out of the way.  The next two are the front of building. Then my R&H 48DS. A marvellous little loco. I've fitted a zimo MX617 decoder along with a Lais stay alive and front and rear lights. When I can afford it…if, I'll get an MX648 and put sound in it. Lastly is a not very good shot of the storage roads. Hope these don't grate too much.

Hi Pete
You have made a very neat model with that Ratio Kit……you just need to add a few little people:lol:

The overall shots were intriguing……time you started a layout thread…..you will be amazed how much enjoyment you can get from recording your progress.

Best Wishes

John

Glad you liked it John but it only occurred to me after posting that it's a bit of a hi jack. Unintentional, sorry. I don't know about staring a layout thread, but I agree the station needs some people.

No worries Pete. :lol:

Back to the Post Office…….Scalescene kit bash to fill an awkward shape next to the station.

I left you before Christmas with just the front propped up in situ





You may recall this was derived from the Bank Building in the low relief High Street kit







The building will back on to the railway and the side will face on to a narrow street. The bank facade would be too elaborate for these walls so, instead, I used the top half of the Broughs shop as a template





Coursed Ashlar provides a reasonable, although not exact. match, for the base.

The sides were made of two sheets of medium card laminated together. Some inner sheets were cut a thickness short on each side to create a glueing rebate

The sides were further strengthend with horizontal strips of thick card which will serve as floor bearers



The first side was glued into position on the base card and acted as the reference point for joining the front  and then the second, short , side.

With three sides squared up the first floor was inserted and secured


 

As you can see the last wall, the one facing the railway, is longer than the Scalescene print out. To avoid emphasing the Ashlar mis-match I laminated the scalescene section on top of a wall of the correct length. Appearance apart this 4 ply addition added strength to the model


The corners are covered with quoins from the accessory sheets.  Lots of cutting out but they hide a multitude of sins!






The kit is topped with a low relief tiled roof. Given the shape of my full relief model  I decided this wasnt practicable 
and opted for a flat roof.

The roof will overhang the walls supported by tiered ledges. Partly aesthetics but also to conceal assorted measurement errors!


.



The roof is clad with Scalescenes pebbledash. That may seem rather bizarre but I have used it as a roof cover a number of times and it seems to work.



The exposed edges are covered with strips from the accessory sheet to match with the ledges.

The roof was topped with walls of dressed stone plus a solitary chimney stack and plant house




Almost done…….here is the rear view



I have bill posters coming from Sankey for the base and, of course, the whole building needs weathering but overall I think its quite effective.


Here is the front……..if you compare it with the first shot you will see its slightly different. A friend on another forum suggested extending the facade ledges/trim on to the two wings……great idea




 With more asphalt laid, perhaps you can see the final shape of the scene? The grey card by the bus is the base card for the hotel. Once this is built there will only be narrow glimpses of the side street and Post Office loading bay.

 I didnt actually plan this but there are really only two full on view points of the Post Office…..front and back ……..fortunately the weird triangular shape is only apparent from a helicopter view.

During the last couple of weeks I have taken a break from cutting card and have been working on locos and running trains….. lots of maintenance to still to do …..never ends.

Hopefully I will start the hotel in a week or so.

Regards from Vancouver…..where we are expecting snow.

John

Superb kit bashing there. One thing though, I heard that Bill Posters had been caught and prosecuted. :-)

Well that's my day made !!

It's always an absolute pleasure watching your kit bashing John.  The end results are always wonderful and, as each building in the jigsaw appears, the final scene takes shape almost like one of those new-model car reveals.

A flat piece of board, bit by bit, becomes an extremely realistic piece of real estate - you have a superb eye and imagination with an uncanny ability to see the finished article - and that's in addition to your modelling skills !!.

Absolutely inspiring - thank you so much !!

Hi John,
  
Congratulations on an impressive Post Office build. A most clever bash to fit your available space, just as in real life urban redevelopment.
  
I also saw in the Granby Courier, that this latest edifice is to be complimented by the Granby Grand, as fine dining comes to the good and the great! Excellent stuff!
  
I’ll be watching with great interest and enjoyment.
  
Many thanks and all the best from a cool Loire Valley,
  
Bill
  

Another great build John.  I rather like the irregular shape, many buildings were constructed to the available space and it makes a change from the standard rectangle.  It suits the scene perfectly and is another great example of your craftsmanship.
Michael

That unusual building shape reminds me a lot of Franklin & South Manchester buildings

(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)

well done John.

Brilliant build John  :thumbs

Rather reminds me of many places I walked around in London in my yoof (I know it's not suppose to be London).

I'm probably being a bit nit-picky, but is that not the wrong style of phone box for 1948?



Ed

Looks like a 1929 K2, limited to London use due to cost, but the Granby PO, being on the up and up, probably had sufficient pulling power with HQ to acquire a kiosk of taste and refinement!

Well spotted Ed!

Bill

As already said excellent build, just wondering will there be enough space to pull the trailer out of the post office with where the Hotel board is at this point, looks a bit tight for the driver.

"We've had bigger than that in here drive.:  Wish I had a pound for every time I've heard that when I'm trying to put a 45 foot trailer into a 20 foot space.

We have a small bus coachworks in Faversham, on one of the main shopping streets.   They restore and run vintage buses…. a nightmare when one arrives, blocks the street for 20 minutes while they try to negotiate the limited space!
when I have some tight spaces, that's the excuse I'm using!

Michael

[user=1120]peterm[/user] wrote:

Superb kit bashing there. One thing though, I heard that Bill Posters had been caught and prosecuted. :-)

  Thanks Pete………these guys will have permission from the GPO so its all legal :lol:

Cheers

John

[user=6]Petermac[/user] wrote:

Well that's my day made !!

It's always an absolute pleasure watching your kit bashing John.  The end results are always wonderful and, as each building in the jigsaw appears, the final scene takes shape almost like one of those new-model car reveals.

A flat piece of board, bit by bit, becomes an extremely realistic piece of real estate - you have a superb eye and imagination with an uncanny ability to see the finished article - and that's in addition to your modelling skills !!.

Absolutely inspiring - thank you so much !!

As always Peter you are too kind. I think its time you were awarded the Granby Long Service and Good Conduct Medal…….you must be the layouts longest serving and most enthusiastic supporter……..thank you!

You have a wonderful gift with words and comments like the above are absolutely brilliant for a lone modellers morale.

 :cheers :cheers